This invention relates to a meat chopper which cuts edible live-stock such as cattle, porker, sheep, etc. into halves along its backbone. In particular, it belongs in a type of the choppers which provide automatic repetitive operation for longitudinal chopping of meat and bones.
As means of vertically chopping edible live-stock along its backbone by inversely suspending the carcass, a chopping method and sawing method have been well known. In the former case, however, the bone chips tend to become embedded in the meat, rendering it unpleasant for eating, and in the case of reciprocating sawing method the carcase to be cut tends to move or swing thus causing reduced cutting efficiency. Furthermore, the use of the chain-saw, which is still the most popular system today, must be avoided because it has been revealed that Raynaud's disease can occur in chain saw operators. On the other hand, the conventional hand chopper method is poor in its working efficiency, being unsuitable for mass production although it is free from the various disadvantages described in the abovementioned sawing method. From the massproduction point of view, the chain saw system, with its processing capacity of 20-30 head per hour, has been the best.
The primary purpose of this invention is to create and provide a vertical meat chopper having a high speed mass processing capacity of 200-300 head per hour, i.e. about ten times as much as that of conventional type chopper, achieved as a result of the newly introduced system wherein the inductive operating mechanism permits speedy, accurate, smooth and easy positioning for cutting, whilst correction of cutting direction is provided in addition to the automatic chopping system, completely overcoming the deficiencies of the sawing system.
The secondary purpose of this invention is to create and provide a vertical meat chopper bringing about an improvement in safety and working efficiency, by providing a control mechanism for the lowering operation, with the object of preventing danger in the event of a quick and extensive lowering of the automatic chopping system, when the reaction to the chopping force is suddenly lost during the cutting operation or during meat delivery or shut-down period of the chopper, etc.